false 2016005 0061375381 9780061375385 820 260 The Somnambulist http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2016005.The_Somnambulist 2103666 Jonathan Barnes 1041 348 2 2 true Sat Mar 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 15 03:26:39 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 17 00:24:48 -0700 2008
i only wish that the conflict was more completely resolved. what's that with the boys in school uniforms? any clue to their identities? maybe they're the collective evil of the city? the villain's talk of his evil plans make no cohesive sense. you have the sense to plot out something that big based on a concept that weak? and edward moon, this supposed smartass of his generation, doesn't understand anything, even when the clues were in his face. most of what he gets credited for are done for him by other people. another case in point--i still have no idea what "powers" edward moon has--he supposedly read someone's mind from the audience. why is he such a blumbering idiot throughout the course of the events here then? it seems that the author is so preoccupied in building up the mystery of the villain's sinister plans that when the villain and the protagonist actually clash on the subject, the best thing the villain does is show him a corpse and a lot of liquid. and that this is what supposedly converted a lot of followers for him. no explanation as to how, no clues as to the significance of this.. it just is. and when the entire plot is pivotal on this single event, i'm left wondering how in the world any of these characters find any of these things plausible. and if maybe they live in a world with a completely different set of the laws of physics.

i think for a good book, this is a pass. for decent entertainment when you're THAT bored and at risk of becoming bald from your own ministrations, and this just happens to be lying around with an overdue library deadline, worth checking out.

P.S. - there's certainly a reference to that video released by the iraqis a couple of years ago, the one of them sawing off the soldier's head as a form of execution? makes me wonder if this is any significance as to what the author's political allegience is, if he feels compelled to include that little tidbit in his book. or maybe that specific event just stuck in his head, who knows. i had to wonder.]]>